Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Married Woman and Cao Cao (10)
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No matter how skillfully Kim Yul wove together the worldviews of Luo Guanzhong and Chen Shou to pull off the stunt of serializing both the Cao Cao and Liu Bei arcs simultaneously, he couldn't always keep the timelines perfectly synced.
Of course not.
The brutal tales that the official histories couldn't touch were dumped onto the Liu Bei arc, while the Cao Cao arc kept rolling with its political intrigue.
As a result, the timelines started to drift apart in subtle ways.
And as Kim Yul lost himself in the flow of consciousness, writing without restraint, that gap began to widen bit by bit.
For instance, the Liu Bei arc had already progressed to him getting clubbed over the head by Lü Bu, crying his eyes out, and relying on Yuan Shao in Xiaopei.
Meanwhile, the Cao Cao arc was only now reaching the episode where he rescued Emperor Xian—the puppet emperor—from the clutches of Li Jue and Guo Si, those infamous murder machines, and secured true legitimacy.
That was right around when the Imperial Emperor began paying serious attention to Kim Yul.
How could anyone treat a nation's emperor as mere "puppet suitable for rattling around with some justification"?
That savage idea.
"Your Majesty! Ulysses has committed sedition!"
"This is a direct challenge to the imperial authority!"
"Even if it's fiction, this is blatantly...!"
The pro-emperor faction, already anxious about recent trends, flew into a panic as well.
They had sensed it too.
The bizarre incidents that erupted across the capital on the night the previous emperor suddenly held that masked ball.
How could those not be connected?
Gathering the rumors swirling through high society, it was obvious—most of those in attendance were pro-emperor nobles.
So they were deeply uneasy.
With whispers of seditious undercurrents already rife in the empire, this blatant provocation was too much.
Of course, no one had the guts or solid evidence to accuse Berthus Duke outright.
For them, it was simply about hanging the easiest target high and setting it ablaze as an example.
However.
"Are you nobles of the empire, or petty fools swayed by rumors? If we censor satire in literature, shall we shut down every newspaper next?"
The emperor rebuked them sternly.
His words were perfectly fitting for a ruler.
And in the emperor's judgment, Ulysses was still too close to an untouchable hornet's nest.
Yet the pro-emperor faction's unease wasn't so easily quelled by mere words from the throne.
Nor did the emperor fully trust Ulysses enough to share his own intelligence with them.
Thus.
"It seems you'll have to step up."
"I've never once wielded this silver tongue against the weak... But for the empire's restoration, I shall take the field myself."
The pro-emperor faction resolved to unleash their loudest, sharpest, most scorching human weapon against the author Ulysses.
Asterik, the former congressman now unemployed, fully cured in an instant by the emperor's personal decree.
Today's western square was peaceful as ever.
The peach world tree still showering pink petals everywhere, couples laughing and chatting beneath it.
Just a slight turn of the gaze.
"I am Guan Yu, Guan Yu!"
"Daddy, you're so cool!"
Families out for fun, renting cosplay outfits in small groups, making memories for the kids.
Just like those hanbok rental spots in front of Gyeongbok Palace, the "Two Heroes Cosplay Shop" had become a landmark of the western square.
Some were crudely made, but others—like the one Esthea had excitedly worn while dashing around—were surprisingly well-crafted.
Watching them stirred something in my nearly parched heart, a faint refill of that classic trio of thrills.
But what pleased me most was.
"Hm. Nice and quiet."
The anti-fan protesters who used to make noise in front of the newspaper office had been completely eradicated.
Power is best wielded, after all. I grabbed the ears of Chloe, who was slurping her coffee right in front of me, and gave them a swing.
- Lady Chloe!
- If it's your order, Lady... I have no choice...
True to form, they vanished the moment Chloe stepped in.
...Maybe this anti-fan ringleader was behind it all.
"Elf pride and... love of nature... hic... "
"Isn't the outfit you're wearing artificial too? Why not strip naked and live that way?"
"What kind of elf-hating nonsense...!"
I swallowed the real Chloe-hating retort—"You wouldn't have much to show anyway."
"So, why'd you call me out?"
"I am the chairman of Truth Newspaper? As foundation director, praising our star author is only natural?"
"President? Foundation director? Chairman? Pick one."
"All refer to this lady!"
Talking to her always made me feel like my brain cells were dying off.
Still, she was pretty when she shut up, fun to tease with that satisfying reaction, and filthy rich.
A bit of a hassle, but maintaining this dynamic wasn't so bad.
"So, what's the business? I'm a busy man."
"Hm, wait a moment. Let me finish this pastry first."
What.
Why the ominous vibe?
"Over here!"
At Chloe's voice, I turned.
And there he was.
"......"
A face I remembered.
The guy possessed by McCarthyism, compiling kill lists and strutting in parliament.
Not flashy enough? He escalated to spraying "national fertilizer" all over the assembly hall, getting booted from congress.
Asterik, that congressman.
"Agyagyeok!"
I yanked Chloe's ear hard.
.
.
.
"Haha! Looking forward to working with you, author!"
"......Take care."
Asterik blew in like a storm and blew out like a gale.
"Heugyaek! Stop, stop!"
The moment he was gone, I stretched out, fiddling with Chloe's pointed earlobe and tugging.
Chewing over his words.
He'd been his usual bubbly self, loaded with explanations, but summed up:
- You catching flak behind your back lately?
Yeah, I felt wronged.
If I'd been out there stirring politics, fine—but I'm just a shut-in writer who loves peace.
"Eui, euwoo, eueue—"
Asterik was the one who got triggered by my novel first.
Berthus Duke sending assassins, now this—what the hell's going on in this world's politics?
Why not grab those salon fake-history-gallery types instead of buzzing around me?
"Eueue—"
"Repented?"
"Repented, repented...!"
Only then did I release her ear. Nicely flushed red.
"I distinctly said I didn't want to meet shady merchants like that."
"Hm, but it was Father's request."
"Father...?"
Berthus Duke, and now the anti-fan duke too?
A sudden chill ran down my spine, like Emperor Hui denied retirement.
By nature, Kim Yul wasn't one for adventures.
That's why, despite Historie's objections, he'd tried to excise anything too controversial from the Cao Cao episodes.
But.
Asterik's visit today drastically shifted his mindset.
The result.
"Nngh, ah......"
A intoxicating mix of taboo thrill and conquest filled Cao Cao's mind.
In his arms, Lady Zou—the general's aunt and his widow—clung tight, letting out heated moans.
If he had a kink, it was preferring married women far more than ordinary ones.
Claiming a woman who already had—or once had—an owner brought unparalleled satisfaction to a man.
The defeated general's impotent rage meant nothing to him.
Heroic nature—what hero wouldn't covet a beauty?
But.
Before he could fully immerse in the conquest, noise from outside furrowed his brow.
Soon.
"Enemies! Ambush!"
The frantic cry shattered the calm, instantly sobering Cao Cao's buzz.
"Kyaa!"
He shoved Lady Zou aside, haphazardly donned his armor, grabbed his sword, and burst from the tent.
Before him: hellish chaos.
Flames roared everywhere; the general's soldiers hacked at his guards indiscriminately.
Only then did Cao Cao realize his blunder.
"My lord! Over here!"
That steel-heavy voice snapped him back; he turned.
"Akra!"
The vanguard was drenched in blood, having single-handedly slain dozens.
.
.
.
"Father, here—!"
Cao Cao couldn't grab the reins his son Cao Ang offered.
But.
"Father, ride! You must escape."
Cao Ang seized his hand, thrust the reins into it.
"I am Cao Ang, son of Cao Cao!"
Bravely, moth-like, he blocked the pursuers.
Cao Cao couldn't bear to watch the end.
Even as he wrote it, Kim Yul wondered, "Is this really historically accurate?"—but he'd poured in the steamy married-woman love.
Highlighting the protagonist's human side was a good attempt to avoid tying too closely to current politics.
But what he'd overlooked.
"No matter how you look at it......"
"Right?"
"Among the nobles, only that duke fits the married-woman lover."
"Huh, can he be this blatant?"
Coincidentally, the empire had a renowned adultery expert.
"......That fucking bastard?"
Berthus Duke, the legendary stud who kept his title through five affair scandals, had been thoroughly scratched.
And it didn't end there.
"Hahaha! Masterpiece, a masterpiece! I want to read this to the duke later!"
The emperor hit like, recommend, retweet, share.
"As expected of Congressman Asterik!"
"Haha, my sincerity got through."
"Attacking like this—what a difference with wordsmiths."
"Striking moral flaws head-on!"
On the emperor's retweet, the pro-emperor crew piled on with "No cap, I smashed like 5 times."
And.
"......Hah?"
The Saintess, who tolerated pure love, harems, harem pure love, even polygamy—but not NTR.
Disliked it.